Knife adjuster for cigarette machine cut-offs



Feb. 26, 1935. w. B. BRONANDER 1,992,735

KNIFE ADJUSTER FOR CIGARETTE MACHINE CUT-OFFS *FEB-26,1935.MLB.BRONANDER KNIFE DJUSTER FORl CIGARETTE MACHINE CUT-OFFS 2sheets-sheet 2` Filed April 19, 1953 ATI'ORN EY Patented Feb. 26, 1935 lQ VUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNIFE ADJUSTER Foa CIGARETTE MACHINEoU'r-orrs Wilhelm B. Bronander, Montclair, N. J., assigner toi AmericanMachine 8i` FoundryCompany, a corporation of New Jersey i ApplicationApri1 19,1933, serial'NaccasM s claims. (ci. 1an-37) This inventionrelates to an improved cutoff faces tangentially engages the cuttingedge of for continuous rod cigarette machines, itsmain said knife,whereby said knife may be adjusted object being to provide means foradjusting the outwardly while travelling tokeep its cutting edge knifeblade while the cutoff is in motion, thus in tangential relation to-saidgrinder and thereby `5 eliminating the necessity of I stopping` themagrind said edge. These various means and parts chine, and savingconsiderable time during` its may bewidely varied in` constructionwithin the daily operation. This is achieved by attaching scope of theclaims, for the particular device se-` the knife blade to a slidableguide plate engaging lected to illustrate the invention is but `one ofwith a screw gear shaft which is actuated by a many possible concreteembodiments of the same.-

slidable rack rod operated by means of a station- The invention,therefore, is not,to be restricted ary hand wheel, the shank of whichengages with t0 the specific construction shown and described.

a bearing of said slidable rod. Anotherobject The improved .cigarettecutoff consists of a of this invention is to sharpen the knife tomaincutoff disk or carrier 10 which by means of bolts tain a`predetermined curve on its cutting edge, 11 is secured to flange 12 ofcutoff shaft 13 con- 15; because it has been found that a curve having atinuously -driven from :the main drive of the minimum overlap over theledger plate gives best cigarette machine. Carrier 10 supports, by

results. The latter is achieved by employing a means of a detachablebearing 14, the knife adstationary grinder vwhich will ,grind the samejustng Shaft 15 Wheh iS equipped With a SCreW curve to the cutting edgeof the knife at all times, 0r Spiral gear 16 meshing With the transversethus assuring a clean and straight cut of the grooves of knife guide andSupporting plate 1'7 20 cigarette rod. With theseand other objects notto which is-attached the knifeblade 18 of the specifically mentionedinview, the invention con'- Wafer type- Plate 17 and knife 1,3 `areSlidably sists in certain constructions and combinations SuDDOrted in a,guide `plate 19 Secured tothe Carhereinafter fully described and thenspecincally rier by SCreWS aS ShOWn in Figs. 3 `and 4. Shaft set forthin the claims hereunto appended. 15,urtherm01`e, S provided `With gearteeth 2,0 25

In theaocompanying drawings which form a, through which it is actuatedby the rack teeth part of this specification and in which like char- 21Of rOd 22 Sldably SuDDOrted by a guide bushacters of reference `indicatethe same or like` ingv 23 rnOunted in the Center 0f Carrier 10. ATheparts: sliding movement of rod 22 is controlled by a Fig. 1 is asectional side, elevation of a cigarette guide bearing' 24 100Se1yInOunted 0n a Shank 25 30 cutoff provided with the improved knifeadjuster; of hand wheel 26, the threaded end 27 of shank Fig. 2 isasectional plan view of the knife ad- 25 being Supported, by a threadedbearing lue juster mechanism, the cutoff disk being shown 28 attaehed t0the rStationary Cutoff hOuSing 29. with the knife in the upmostposition; InI Order to adjust knife blade 18 while the car- Fig.f3 is afront elevation of the cutoi disk rer 10 iS in InOtOn, it iS Onlyrequired to turn 35 and the` attached knife blade; hand wheel 26 in aclockwise `direction in Fig. 6,

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the same as seen from Whelfly due t0 thethreaded mounting 0f 51121111225, line 4--4 of Fig. 3; will cause thelatter to move outwardly thereby Fig. 5 is a plan view of the cutoffdisk taken on effecting a Similar yJrrlovemerlt of rod 22 which,

4g line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and I through its bearing 24 is connected toshank 25. 40

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the cutoff housing The mOVeInent 0f 10d22, the rack teeth 21 of with the attached regulating mechanism for thewhich mesh with teeth 20 of shaft 15, will cause knife adjuster, takenon line 6-6 of Fig. 1 i, the latter to turn, thereby also turning screwIn carrying the invention into effect there is gear `16` and causing theknife guide plate 17 4,5l provided a rotatably mountedl carrier, a waferand knife 18 to move outwardly to the desired 4r knife slidably mountedon said, carrier, manually position, and thereby compensate for wearingof operable means for adjustingsaid knife radially the knife.Guidebearing 24 is equipped with a outward of the carrier while thelatter is'rotating sleeve 30- carrying a stop lug v31 for` the purposeto compensate for wearing of the knife, and a of preventing thedisengagement of guide plate 50. device for incapacitating said meanswhenthe 17 from spiral gear 16 Whenthe knife blade is` 50 knife is wornto the end. In `the best forms of worn down to the end, as in saidposition lug 31 construction contemplated there is also provided engageswith `a stop pin 32. The machine then astationary cylindricalgiinderhaving its axis hasto be stopped' since a new knife blade isdisposed in a plane passing through the axis of required. Stop pin V:i2is of the spring plug type said carrier, 'and arranged so that one'ofits end equipped rwith compression spring 33 Vand sup- 55 ported in lug34 of stationary housing 29. In order to insert a new knife blade 18,stop pin 32 is pulled out of the way of stop lug 31 and hand wheel 26 isturned to move the rod 22 outwardly, the stop pin 32 upon its releaseriding on lug 31 until it drops off lug 31. At this point, guide n plate17 and knife blade 18 can easilybe removed and a new blade 18 attachedtoy plate 17 after which the latter is inserted again and the operationof stop pin 32 and hand wheel 26 is reversed until bearing 24 hasreached its innermost position.

The stationary grinder (Fig. 1) consists of cylindrical grinder 35loosely mounted on a downwardly inclined stud 36 fixed in an arm 37attached to the side wall of housing 29. The grinder is supported inthis manner, withits axis in a Vertical plane passing through the axis'of the cutoff disk 10, to tangentially engage and grind the cutting edgeof the knife to a predetermined curve and bevel it as it moves over theouter end face of the grinder. Since the grinder is stationary, thecutting edge will always be ground to thersame curvature, whereby itsoverlap over the ledger plate may be kept down to a predeterminedminimum which is just sufficient to sever the cigarette rod, and whichhas been found to produce more perfect cuts through the cigarette rod.

When the operator initially adjusts the knife to engage the grinder onthe ledger tube the desired overlap of the cutting edge is obtained.Whenever the operator notices that the grinder is no longer grinding thecutting edge of the knife, the operator adjusts the knife outwardly toreengage the grinder without lstopping the machine, thereby keeping itin the position in which it severs the cigarette rod most efficiently.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cigarette cutoff, the combination with a rotatably mountedcarrier, of a rod slidably mounted in said carrier and coaxialtherewith, a knife adjusting shaft rotatably mounted in said carrier andextending diametrically thereof, said rod having rack teeth thereon andsaid shaft being provided with gear teeth meshing with the rack teeth ofsaid rod; a wafer knife, a transversely grooved guide plate carryingsaid knife and slidably mounted on said carrier and radially adjustablethereof, and a screw gear on said shaft meshing with said grooves,whereby said rod may be moved axially outward to adjust said kniferadially outward of the carrier and thereby compensate for wearing ofthe knifey while the carrier is rotating.

2. In a cigarette cutoff, the combination with a rotatably mountedcarrier, of a rod slidably mounted in said'carrier and coaxialtherewith, a knife adjusting shaft rotatably mounted in said carrier andextending diametrically thereof, said rod having rack teeth thereon andsaid shaft being provided with gear teeth meshing with the rack teeth ofsaid rod, a wafer knife, a transversely grooved guide plate carryingsaid knife and slidably mounted on said carrier and radially adjustablethereof, a screw gear on said shaft meshing with said grooves, wherebysaid rod may be moved axially outward to adjust said knife radiallyoutward of the carrier and thereby compensate for Wearing of the knifewhile the carrier is rotating, manually operable means for moving saidrod outwardly to adjust the knife, and a device for obstructing theoutward movement of said rod when the knife is worn to the end;

3. In a cigarette machine cutoff, the combination with a rotatablymounted carrier, of a rod slidably mounted in said carrier and coaxialtherewith, a knife adjusting shaft rotatably mounted in said carrier andextending diametrically thereof, said rod having rack teeth thereon andsaid shaft being provided with gear teeth meshing with the rack teeth ofsaid rod, a wafer knife, a transversely grooved guide plate carryingsaid knife and slidably mounted on said carrier and radially adjustablethereof, a screw gear on said shaft meshing with said grooves, wherebysaid rod may be moved axially outward to adjust said knife radiallyoutward of the carrier and thereby compensate for wearing of the knifewhile the carrier is rotating, manually operable means for moving saidrod outwardly to adjust the knife, and a device for obstructing theoutward movement of said rod when the knife is worn yto the end, saiddevice including a lug connected to said rod, and a stationary stop pindisposed in thepath of said lug.

4. In a cigarette cutoff, the combination with a rotatably mountedcarrier, of a wafer knife slidably mounted on said carrier, manuallyoperable means for adjusting said knife radially outward of the carrierwhile the latter is rotating to commovement of said rod when the knifeis worn down to the end.

5. In a cigarette cutoff, the combination with a rotatably mountedcarrier, of a flat wafer knife slidably mounted on said carrier andhaving a curved cutting edge which is eccentric to the axis of rotationof said carrier, manually operable means for adjusting said kniferadially outward of the carrier while the latter is rotating tocompensate for wearing of the knife, a device for incapacitating saidmeans when the knife is worn to the end, and a stationary cylindricalgrinder having its axis disposed in a plane passing through the axis ofsaid carrier, and arranged so that one of its end faces tangentiallyengages the cutting edge of said knife, whereby said knife maybeadjusted outwardly while travelling to keep its cut'- ting edge intangential relation to said grinder and thereby grind said edge.

6. In a cigarette cutoff, the combination with a rotatably mounted knifecarrier, of knife supporting means mounted on said carrier for movementdiametrically thereof, means for mounting a cutoff knife on saidsupporting means, a manually operable element relatively stationary withrespect to said carrier, a rack extending axially of said carrier androtatable therewith, gear means meshing with said rack and connected tosaid` knife support to move the same on movement of the rack andconnections between said manually operable element and said rack to movesaid rack in response to actuation of said element.

7. In a cigarette cutoff, the combination with a rotatably mounted knifecarrier, of knife supporting means mounted on said carrier for movementdiametrically thereof, means for mounting a cutol knife on saidsupporting means, a manually operable element relatively stationary withrespect to said carrier, a rack extending axially of said carrier androtatable therewith, gear means meshing with said rack and connected tosaid knife support to movethe same on movementl of the rack andconnections between said manually operable element and said rackto movesaid rack in response to actuation of said element, said connectionsincluding a bearing permitting free rotation of said rack relative tosaid element.

8. In a cigarette cutoff, the combination with a rotatably mounted knifecarrier, of knife supporting means mounted on said carrier for movementdiametrically thereof, means for mounting a cutoif knife on saidsupporting means, a manually operable element relatively stationary withrespect to said carrier, an actuating bar extending justment of saidelement and the bar connected 10 thereto.

WILHELM B. BRONANDER.

